The invention relates to optical switches and more particularly to a rugged, compact optical switch which may be used for optical fibers.
The development of optical communication systems requires various devices for interconnecting, coupling and switching signals between optical sources and receptors such as optical fibers. Such switches could be used, for example, for switching various attenuators or delays into a line or for connecting sources having different optical wavelengths to a line in order to test a wavelength multiplexer or for many other applications.
Such optical switches should provide for low loss in each position, high isolation between outputs, a relatively fast switching time and a reasonably low cost. However, a problem with the coupling of light directly between optical fibers is that it must be done with great precision, which generally requires machining of parts to high mechanical tolerances.